NHL Transactions & Roster Moves

Fraser Minten(C)|BOS
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Minten has been activated from non-roster designation and been assigned to the Toronto Marlies (AHL).

Minten suffered a high-ankle sprain in early September, causing him to miss the entirety of training camp and the preseason. The 20-year-old Minten appeared in four games with the Maple Leafs in 2023-24 before being returned to junior, but failed to pick up a point during his brief showing.

Source:
Leafs PR 2024-10-29T16:10:41.368Z
Fraser Minten
Kaapo Kahkonen(G)|FA
Call Up
Call Up
Kahkonen has been recalled from his conditioning loan from the Colorado Eagles (AHL).

The 28-year-old Kahkonen had a poor 2023-24 campaign split between the San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils, posting a 3.64 GAA and .898 SV%, but could get an opportunity at the crease in Colorado as Alexandar Georgiev has been unable to provide consistent efforts. The 28-year-old Kahkonen was solid in a two-game stint with the Eagles (AHL), posting a 2.57 GAA and .919 SV% despite losing both contests.

Source:
Meghan Angley 2024-10-29T15:59:24.486Z
Kaapo Kahkonen
Justin Dowling(C)|FA
Call Up
Call Up
Dowling has been recalled from Utica (AHL).

With news that Curtis Lazar (lower body) will miss some time, the Devils have recalled Dowling from Utica (AHL). The 34-year-old Dowling has primarily been an AHL player but is no stranger to the NHL, with 100 games of experience. He has four points (2G / 2A) in six games with Utica this season.

Source:
New Jersey Devils 2024-10-29T15:25:38.758Z
Justin Dowling
Adam Gaudette(RW)|FA
Call Up
Call Up
Gaudette has been recalled from Belleville (AHL).

Due to salary cap implications, Gaudette has regularly been a part of paper transactions assigning him to Belleville (AHL) despite being a lineup-regular in Ottawa this season. Gaudette has played all but one contest for Ottawa this season, scoring three points (2G / 1A) in seven games.

Source:
Murray Pam 2024-10-29T14:16:49.697Z
Adam Gaudette
Zack Ostapchuk(C)|SJS
Call Up
Call Up
Ostapchuk has been recalled from Belleville (AHL).

Ostapchuk was the 39th overall pick of the Senators in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. The 21-year-old was held without a point in seven games with Ottawa last season but had a respectable campaign in the AHL, scoring 28 points (17G / 11A) in 69 contests with Belleville.

Source:
Murray Pam 2024-10-29T14:15:12.250Z
Zack Ostapchuk
Josh Doan(RW)|UTA
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Utah reassigned Doan to Tucson (AHL) on Monday.

Doan is averaging 13:05 time-on-ice and has only two points (1G / 1A) in nine games this season after a considerably more productive trial run last season when he scored nine points (5G / 4A) in 11 games. After making him a healthy scratch on Monday, Utah is opting to send him down to Tucson where he can continue to play and further his development.

Source:
Utah Hockey Club PR 2024-10-29T00:33:55.079Z
Josh Doan
Marc Del Gaizo(D)|FA
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Del Gaizo has been reassigned to Milwaukee (AHL).

Del Gaizo has played three games with the Predators this season but will return to the Milwaukee Admirals (AHL). The 25-year-old has predominantly played in the AHL since being drafted in the fourth-round by the Predators in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, including a 34 point campaign (8G / 26A) in 60 games with Milwaukee last season.

Source:
Nashville Predators 2024-10-28T21:39:17.173Z
Marc Del Gaizo
Ty Smith(D)|CAR
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Smith has been assigned to the Chicago Wolves (AHL).

Smith, the puck-moving defenseman, has 47 points in 123 career NHL games played but last appeared in the NHL with Pittsburgh all the way back in 2022-23. He spent all of 2023-24 with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL) and had nine goals and 43 points in 63 games played.

Source:
Walt Ruff 2024-10-28T21:36:03.333Z
Ty Smith
John Hayden(C)|SEA
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Call Up
Hayden has been recalled from Coachella Valley (AHL).

Hayden has 249 games of NHL experience since being drafted in the third round by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft but has been limited to only nine games since the end of the 2021-22 season. The 29-year-old had 26 points (15G / 11A) in 65 games with the Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL) last season.

Source:
Seattle Kraken PR 2024-10-28T18:24:45.688Z
John Hayden
Cale Fleury(D)|SEA
Call Up
Call Up
Fleury has been recalled from Coachella Valley (AHL).

Fleury has not been drawn into Seattle's lineup yet this season, but with Vince Dunn (upper body) not eligible to return from LTIR yet, Fleury has regularly been recalled from and returned to Coachella Valley (AHL) over the last two weeks. That said, Fleury has been a stranger to NHL action over the previous several seasons. After playing 41 games with the Montreal Canadiens in his rookie season in 2019-20, the 25-year-old Fleury has only played 22 combined NHL games since. Last season with Coachella Valley, Fleury had 36 points (7G / 29A) in 65 games.

Source:
Seattle Kraken PR 2024-10-28T18:22:47.353Z
Cale Fleury
Spencer Martin(G)|FA
Call Up
Call Up
Martin has been recalled from Chicago (AHL) on an emergency basis.

Martin's call-up from the Chicago Wolves (AHL) indicates that something could be amiss with Carolina's two-headed goalie monster, Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov, but nothing has been announced yet. Hurricanes' head coach, Rod Brind'Amour, will likely provide an update on Monday.

Source:
Carolina Hurricanes 2024-10-28T19:05:58.551Z
Spencer Martin

NHL Roster Moves

NHL roster moves are essentially transactions that alter a team’s lineup. The roster move could make the team better or worse. In some cases, the move is inconsequential. Fan favourites could leave for greener pastures. A struggling player could get sent down to the farm team. A lousy contract might get put on waivers. Even worse, players may get strategically buried on the long-term injury reserve list because they’re not worth the cap hit. The possibilities are somewhat endless.

Types of NHL Roster Moves

Don’t worry; Daily Faceoff has you covered when trying to grasp the concept of a league ruled by the complexities of the almighty salary cap. Below, we break down the strategy behind roster moves so you can get a leg up in your DFS league.

Free agent signings

NHL rosters are primarily constructed by player signings. The front office reaches out to what are referred to as “free agents.” Both the front office and the player’s agent work out the terms of a deal. How teams sign deals varies depending on what type of free agents they’re dealing with.

Rookie Deals

Rookie’s sign something called an entry-level contract which is usually capped at a certain amount of money per year. Under the NHL’s current collective bargaining agreement, the longest an entry-level contract can be signed is three years.

Restricted Free Agent Contracts

After that, a player becomes a restricted free agent (RFA). Technically, they can sign with teams outside of who they played for in the past season by accepting an offer sheet. That said, if the player’s first team extends a qualifying offer, any team competing for the player’s services will have to offer up a certain amount of compensation in the form of draft picks. Of course, that’s if the player agrees to the offer sheet and their current team doesn’t match it.

Unrestricted Free Agent Contracts

Players can become unrestricted free agents (UFA) when their current RFA deal is up and they can go wherever they want. If they sign a contract extension, they can sign for up to eight years. Alternatively, they can sign a seven-year deal if they test the open market. Fun fact: pending UFAs might be motivated to play their hearts out to secure the bag in their next deal. Keep that in mind, fantasy players.

Blockbuster trades

Trades make for some of the most interesting NHL roster moves. To this day, the infamous Patrick Roy deal still gets talked about in NHL circles. What happens in a trade is that two or maybe even three teams link up and iron out a deal. There might be deals that are referred to as “hockey trades,” meaning that both teams get something of equal value. For example, one team gives up a first-line centre for a top-pairing right-handed defenceman. Some NHL trades involve bad teams selling off their moveable assets, such as upcoming free agents, for future considerations, including draft picks or prospects.

Injuries

Depending on how badly a player gets injured, several things can happen. They can be out of a game or two, with the team opting to keep the severity of the injury private (a common pet peeve for fantasy players). Players can be put on the injury reserve for injuries that can keep them out for a calendar week. This frees up a roster spot so someone from within the team’s system, or sometimes outside of it, can come in and replace them while they’re getting back in tip-top shape. If the player needs over a week to recover after a serious injury, they will get put on long-term injury reserve.

Waivers

In typical NHL roster moves jargon, when a player goes on waivers, other teams can claim them from their current team. A player usually goes on waivers when they’re signed to a one-way deal, meaning they can’t be sent down to the minors willy-nilly like a rookie on a two-way deal. Before the player gets sent down, other teams can claim the player on the “waiver wire.” If the player isn’t claimed, they go to the minors to play in the AHL.

Call Ups

Outside of signings, player callups are one of the most popular NHL transactions. Most teams call up players when they’re performing well in the AHL or if there’s an injury on the main roster. Usually, when a player gets called up to the NHL, one gets sent down to the minors.

Contract Buyouts

Of course, you’ve probably worked with someone who’s pretty lazy. People from afar think that person is a “good fit,” but internally, everyone hates the person. Oftentimes, that person finds a way to get fired. Well, newsflash: the same thing happens in NHL dressing rooms. Sometime players who have a history of poor performance have the audacity to ask for more money come contract time. Their team has the option to buyout their contract, or in extreme cases of misconduct, their contract can be terminated. If they’re not being bought out, the front office is laughing while the player’s agent is showing themselves out of the building. For the players who are actually good and could command big bucks on the open market, teams hustle to get them signed up for a new deal. If the player hits the open market, all bets are off…. Coaching Changes

Losing a head coach that sucked at their job and replacing them with a new one can ignite a team. Historically, decent teams perform strongly when they get a new coach. For how long those “strong performances” sustain themselves over the course of a season is a whole other story.

Rules Around NHL Roster Moves

NHL rules aren’t made to be broken. If they’re written in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA), you may as well say they’re written in stone. Let’s talk about those “set in stone” rules.

Trade Deadline

Teams have a certain amount of time each season to make NHL trades and signings. The date varies from season to season, but it usually falls between the end of February and early March so that roster’s are set before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin. After the deadline, players can still be moved, but they will not be eligible to play for the rest of the regular season or playoffs. You’ll usually see prospects who are playing abroad get dealt after the deadline, if any trades are made at all.

[Editor’s note: can include link to new DFO Stanley Cup page here]

Strategy Behind NHL Roster Moves

General managers and hands-on hockey ops executives are always thinking about the future. If their team is going to miss the playoffs and it’s a good draft year, they might be inclined to sell, meaning they’ll try to offload decent players in return for cap space, draft picks and younger players. The opposite can be said for good teams. They’ll be looking to add to what they already have to make a run for the cup.

If you’re a DFS player or even in a dynasty league, you can exploit that by buying low on players who are playing for bad teams but have the potential to increase their production if they get traded to a good team. Having access to a good data set can help ease the trouble of anticipating how good a player will be going to and from a certain team.

The Salary Cap

When general managers sleep at night, they probably have nightmares about the salary cap. “The cap,” as hockey insiders like Frank Seravalli refer to it when discussing NHL transactions, dictates how much a team can spend on its roster. There’s a “floor,” meaning a team has to spend at least this much per year. Then, there’s a “ceiling” that teams can’t go over lest they pay the price in draft pick compensation and fines, amongst other things. The salary cap makes it difficult for teams to trade players with high cap hits. It also creates a market in itself for teams that want to get over the “floor” by taking on other teams’ bad contracts. In a world beyond reality, most would favour a luxury tax system like the one Major League Baseball implements.

How NHL Roster Moves Impact Sports Betting

Look, if you don’t want to put up with another year of getting beat by your co-worker’s child in fantasy, you have to put as much effort into your team as that 10-year-old weasel will. That means keeping up with the news. Changing your lineups on a daily basis. Trading players at their peak value. Buying them from others when they’re at their lowest. For the love all of things good, change your injured players out for healthy ones. If you’re a sports bettor, any NHL roster can change the money line or the total in a game, especially if a star player is hurt or a team is playing its third-string goalie. Staying in the loop will give bettors a better chance at finding an edge.